A Hero's Passing
by Darious Frost
Summary: The war was over. Madara , Kabuto, and Sasuke were all dead, all at the hands of one of Konoha's greatest, and least appreciated heroes, Uzumaki Naruto. These feats were accomplished at the greatest cost a hero could pay.
1. The end of the war

This is my first story, and first one shot at the same time. Sorry it's so short.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it.

A Hero's Passing

Naruto lay on his back, hardly able to breathe, beside him lay Sasuke in a pool of their mixing blood. Naruto struggled to turn his head to see his rival, friend... brother smiling back at him through empty, dead eyes. Mingling in those eye with his tears of blood were actual tears, though Naruto could not guess as to why. The screams of women could be heard amongst the dieing sounds of battle around the brothers as they lay there. Again straining to move his head, Naruto looked to his other side to see Sakura, Hinata, and Tsunade all running over to him. Tsunade and Sakura both trying frantically to heal Naruto's wounds, to at least stop the bleeding, all to no success as Hinata cradled his head in her lap as all three cried.

"Please don't cry... I hate seeing you cry..." looking directly at Sakura as he spoke past the blood in his mouth, "I'm sorry I couldn't bring him back Sakura-chan... I failed again."

"BAKA... I don't care! You didn't have to keep that stupid promise anymore, I found someone better, someone worth loving." Sakura's hands glowing an intense green as she poured her chakra into healing him.

"It's too bad I'll never get to meet this guy" coughing up some blood before continuing, "he must really be a great guy."

Hinata and Tsunade could do nothing but cry harder as others started to gather, some also crying, among those crying were the remainders of the rookie eleven, Kakashi, Iruka, all three of the sand siblings and Killer Bee, who didn't try to hide the tears that flowed behind his sunglasses.

"He's an amazing guy," Sakura spoke shakily with a forced smile, "he has a heart of gold and is always giving just to make me happy... it took me forever to get around my stupid crushes and my image of what I thought he was though. I honestly love him."

"I'm happy for you Sakura. I hope he makes you very happy." Naruto managed to flash a bloodied fox grin at her as his eyes slowly closed.

Tsunade closed her hands as they stopped glowing and sat back, lowering her head. Hinata was a sobbing mess as Kiba moved up to her and softly put his arm around her before she turned and cried into his chest.

"Naruto...? NARUTO, DON'T GO! I LOVE YOU NARUTO!" As Naruto's body lay still before her, Sakura collapsed on his chest and wailed.

Two weeks had passed since the war came to an end, the village was quieter, less lively. A lone figure was seen at the memorial stone that commemorated those ninja that had fallen in service of their village. A bouquet of orange and yellow flowers lay between her and the monument as she knelt there with her head bowed. "I miss you Naruto, I should have told you sooner than I did... I should have..." Sakura quietly started to sob before a hand on her shoulder startled her. Looking up to find Kakashi standing behind her with a cast on his left arm. He didn't say a word as he knelt down beside her and bowed his head, giving a silent prayer to his friends, teacher, and both of his lost students. "All we can do now is live for him Sakura. He gave his life to protect ours and give us a future."

"But a future without him..." sniffling as she tried to compose herself enough to talk, "without him it's not much of a future to look forward to."

"I know, and I know he meant a lot to you, but just remember, he's watching over us now, and he's finally with his parents and god father again."

Sakura couldn't help but smile a little, knowing that he was finally with the people that loved him from the start, he was finally home. Sakura then bowed her head and whispered a prayer to her fallen love "I'll see you again Naruto... I love you."


	2. Time Passes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it.

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Sixty years have passed since the outcast hero Naruto Uzumaki had died, closing the 4th, and so far last Shinobi World War. Over the years his name had come to be known as that of a true hero. A hero on the same level with that of the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze himself, whom every person in Konoha now knew as fact and history since the Godaim Hokage Tsunade Senju had made it publicly known after his passing and had his and his mothers graves moved to lay beside Minato's, to lay in rest as the family they were never able to be in life. Many things have changed since that day. His sensei Kakashi Hatake had moved on to model his next 3 teams after Naruto and his other loyal student Sakura Haruno in that they would know teamwork, they would know compassion, dedication and when an order was to be pushed right to the edge of contradiction to make sure that their team, their friends, their family itself was safe. Not one of his new students ever repeated the actions of his former rogue student Sasuke Uchiha, more of them following in the steps of their predecessor Naruto, a few becoming medics and actually falling in love with their team mates like Sakura had done years before. But unlike Sakura, they had made it known to their team mates at the out-rite insistence of Kakashi. Kakashi had never married, calling his students his children, in the fact that he treated and cared for each and every one of them as such after having his eyes opened by the blond menace/hero years ago.

Naruto's class mates all progressed to Jounin level, many taking on students of their own, a few basking in the simple duties of just being a Jounin. Hinata Hyuga had found comfort, and later love in her team mate Kiba Inuzuka and had retired as an active field kunichi after the birth of their second daughter, both girls taking on their father and aunt's wild looks but also both inheriting their mother's eyes and grace.

Her cousin and brother figure Neji Hyuga had finally come out of his shell and openly became a couple with Tenten. They had a little boy that took after his mother in gaining an early obsession with weapons and their use, having himself a collection that out shown his mothers at that age, and also inherited the Byakugan from his father, which he used rather over protectively of his two younger cousins until they proceeded to prove to him and their family that they didn't need any of it, but still accepted it from time to time. He was never given the caged bird seal.

Rock Lee eventually found love in the form of a young woman that he and his team had rescued on one of their missions. She was just as eccentric and powerful as Lee, but knew how to keep her voice down and eventually beat, literally, that very same quality into her future husband. They had one daughter that thankfully NEVER saw that horrible green spandex that her godfather Gai had tried to get her to wear once she started training in later years, and thankfully inherited her mother's look and bother of her parents drive to train and reach new levels. She luckily did not inherit her fathers problem with chakra.

Shino Aburame found himself betrothed to a distant member of his clan, a beautiful woman if one were to ever see under the heavy clothing that all Aburame wore to conceal their hives. They had 3 surprisingly energetic little girls. No one outside of the family knows who their looks take after.

To many people's surprise, not in their choice of each other, but in the fact that Shikamaru Nara had actually put enough motivation into doing so, had started openly dating, then later marrying Temari. All of Konoha had a great laugh at the look of sheer terror on his face after something whispered to him by Gaara before he took his seat after walking Temari down the isle. For as lazy as he was, he and Temari had 4 children, 3 boys, and the youngest a girl. The boys took after their mother, the first in a line of NON-LAZY Nara men, and they watched over their lazy, yet adorable little sister as if they were knights and she were a princess, which her father openly treated her like every day.

In one of the biggest shockers to the village, Ino Yamanaka fell heavily in love with her team mate Chōji Akamichi. They had secretly dated for a couple years before they both became confident enough to openly show off their relationship... a week before their engagement. They had a pair of twins, brown haired boy, and a dirty blond girl. Both children took on a healthy blend of their parent's appearances, but never took on their father's size, though a little chubby all around.

The only member of the remains of the Konoha 11 to never date, marry, or bear any children was Sakura Haruno. It wasn't that she didn't have people interested in her, she just never found anyone to love more than she still loved her lost team mate Naruto. She wasn't unhappy by any means, she had many godchildren and was a member of many families in the village. Some would say that it was childish and sad, but her friends all knew that her heart would only love one man and would carry that love for him to the end of her days. She had known even more sadness when she helped lay Tsunade to rest beside Jiraya's memorial 26 years ago, then later after laying Kakashi to rest only3 year later after giving his life to protect his 'children' on a mission, not in combat, but shoving them out of the way of a massive rock slide.

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The Rokudaim Hokage sat in her study, penning an entry into a journal that she had been keeping for 60 years now. Noting things that were going on with her friends and the village, as if talking to someone like she were writing a letter to them. She closed the book and placed it on the desk before moving slowly down the hall, passing pictures on the wall of her holding little children and smiling beside her many friends. One of her standing proudly atop the Hokage tower the day that Tsunade had passed the hat on to her. After changing into her bed clothes, she took a seat on the side of the bed and lifted a framed picture that sat on her night stand and held it before her, softly running her fingers over the whisker marked face of the man standing with his arm around her in her younger years, taken after he came home from his long training mission with his master. "Good night Naruto, I love you and always will." The gray haired Sakura lay back into her bed, drifting off to sleep to dream of the family that her and Naruto had created in her mind for the last time.

One week later, the new Hokage stood over 4 grave markers in the small plot given to the Namikazes, one newly set, with tears softly trickling down his face. "Well Aunt Sakura, you're finally together. I'm sorry that it took so long for you to be with him. I know that he would be so proud of you for taking up his dream and doing such an amazing job at it. Even Konohamaru happily let you take up the title instead of him when he found out why you did it. I hope that Naruto was waiting there at the gates for you when you got there." He leaned down and placed a hand full of cherry blossoms at the foot of her head stone and turned to leave as an ethereal blond man and pink haired woman watched him leave, both smiling as the held each other and faded away knowing that the village that they both loved and protected was in good hands.

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AN: I know I said that this story was complete and one chapter... but I just couldn't leave it the way it was, I had to write a conclusion. I may love my tragedy, but I also need some resolution.

I'd love to get some feed back on this, constructive criticism, not flames for killing Naruto or making Sakura stay alone the entire time or that I suck at writing. If I'm not doing well, help me out a little, this is only the second thing that I've written besides essays.


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